2024 RLLR 92
Citation: 2024 RLLR 92
Tribunal: Refugee Protection Division
Date of Decision: February 8, 2024
Panel: Hoang-Mai Hong
Counsel for the Claimant(s): Ugochukwu Udogu
Country: Cameroon
RPD Number: TC3-21884
Associated RPD Number(s): N/A
ATIP Number: A-2025-00611
ATIP Pages: N/A
DECISION
[1] MEMBER: So these are the official reasons for my decision.
INTRODUCTION
[2] These are the reasons for the decision in the claim of XXXX XXXX XXXX, a citizen of Cameroon who is claiming refugee protection pursuant to sections 96 and 97(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
[3] You alleged you fear persecution and a risk to your life in Cameroon on the basis of your profile as an anglophone woman and because of your imputed and actual political opinion and because of your sexual orientation as a bisexual woman. I have considered your testimony and the other evidence in this case and I am ready to render my decision orally.
[4] In coming to my decision I have also considered the Chairperson’s Guideline 9 Regarding Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics. This guideline assists in assessing of the key evidentiary elements in determining the harm individuals may face due to their sexual orientation. I’ve also considered Guideline 4 on Gender Considerations in Proceedings Before the Immigration and Refugee Board in my decision. I considered that various factors may affect a claimant’s ability to provide evidence such as the sensitive nature of the allegations, cross cultural misunderstandings, social, religious and economic differences. These guidelines also state that gender is an innate characteristic and it may form a particular social group and I considered whether this applies to your circumstances.
[5] I find that you would face a serious possibility of persecution should you return to Cameroon and therefore are a Convention refugee on the grounds of your profile as an anglophone woman, your imputed and actual political opinion and your membership in a particular social group, namely as a bisexual woman.
[6] The specific allegations, the specifics of this case are stated in your Basis of Claim form at Exhibit 2. You allege that you’ve been assaulted by the military in your day-to-day life living and studying in the southwest and northwest regions of Cameroon including in XXXX 2018 when you were assaulted by a policeman on your way to work with your mother at her business and when you were a student at the XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX 2019 where you were seriously injured and needed treatment at the hospital for sexual assault.
[7] You also alleged that you identify as a bisexual woman and hid your sexual orientation while living in Cameroon with only your mother, your intimate partner at that time and a classmate being aware of your sexuality. You left Cameroon in XXXX 2022 to study in Canada. In XXXX 2022 you were informed by your brother that your mother had been arrested and accused of supporting separatists. She was detained for approximately XXXX (XXXX) weeks before your siblings were able to pay a bribe for her release.
[8] You are unable to complete your studies after one (1) semester in Canada as a result and then made a claim for refugee protection in January 2023 after learning about the process from a friend in whom you confided about your issues in Cameroon and about your sexuality.
Identity
[9] I find that your personal identity and national identity as a Cameroonian has been established on a balance of probabilities by your testimony and documents provided including your Cameroon passport found at Exhibits 1 and 4.
Credibility
[10] When a claimant swears to the truthfulness of certain allegations this creates a presumption that those allegations are true unless there is a reason to doubt their truthfulness. I find you to be a credible witness. You testified in a spontaneous and straightforward manner about your political opinion, the political activities you had participated in since coming to Canada, about your sexual orientation, your former same-sex partner and the threatening events you had experienced in Cameroon as an anglophone woman.
[11] I find that there were no relevant inconsistencies between the testimony and the evidence that were not adequately explained. You testified with specific detail in describing how and when you first realized your sexual orientation as a bisexual woman when you were 14 after growing close to a classmate, DE, and being in an intimate relationship with her for one (1) year until another classmate caught you when you were being intimate and had informed your mother about it. Your mother thereafter switched schools for you and you lost contact with DE.
[12] You spoke candidly about your feelings about your sexual orientation as they developed over time, your view of circumstances for LGBTQ+ individuals in Cameroon and why you kept your sexual orientation to yourself including from most of your family because of this fear. You stated that when your mother found out about your sexual orientation she was angry and that you were so afraid that you had suppressed your sexuality since this time and promised her to change because she was religious and you felt she was very disappointed in you.
[13] I find your testimony was detailed, consistent and spoke to your lived experiences as a bisexual woman who kept her sexual orientation hidden in Cameroon and I find that on a balance of probabilities it supports your allegations that you are a bisexual woman.
[14] You also testified in specific detail about your short relationship with DE. You spoke spontaneously and with detail about who she is, her personality, about your feelings for her and shared memories of how you had called each other pet names and wrote notes to each other at school. I find that you testified with a sufficient level of detail when describing your relationship and the development of your relationship with a level of detail corresponding to what can reasonably expected in the context of this short relationship as alleged.
[15] Therefore I find that you have established on a balance of probabilities your identity as a bisexual woman and that you were in a genuine although brief relationship with your school friend in Cameroon. You also spoke about your experiences in Canada so far and how it has shaped your understanding of your sexual orientation including how you felt to some extent surprised how people can be different and free to be who they are here and how you like to attend meetings of the XXXX to learn more and for their support.
[16] You also spoke about confiding in a friend here who had opened up to you about her own sexual orientation and how that has helped you to find community, and how she has helped you to find community as well.
[17] I find overall that the evidence you provided in your testimony was detailed, consistent and aligned with your Basis of Claim narrative and I find on a balance of probabilities that it supports your allegations that you are a bisexual woman.
[18] You also testified about your political beliefs since coming to Canada and your activities with the Southern Cameroon’s relief organization and how you have participated by attending meetings each month, a meeting each month, sorry, and a protest on XXXX XXXX, 2023, the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in downtown Toronto to sensitize people about the ongoing crisis in Cameroon. You testified that you also make financial contributions to support the organization’s efforts. This is corroborated by a letter from the organization dated XXXX XXXX, 2024.
[19] You testified that you did not feel safe to participate politically in Cameroon however you were empowered to support the anglophone cause since coming to Canada because you are against the bad ruling of the government and it’s a – and that for you it’s a good opportunity to be a part of the Southern Cameroon community in Canada.
[20] Your allegations were also supported by personalized evidence in the form of letters of support and IDs including from your mother who had witnessed assaults on you and had taken you to the hospital in XXXX 2019, from your brother who had informed you about your mother’s arrest and your mother’s friend who had helped your family and in whom your mother confides. You also provided a medical note indicating that you had sought medical help after being assaulted in XXXX 2019.
[21] You testified that your mother has been asked about your whereabouts by the police and military and this is corroborated by her in her letter although you frankly testified that you’re not sure whether if this is because she herself has been arrested and accused of assisting separatists.
[22] You also provided a letter of support from your friend in Canada in whom you confided about your issues in Cameroon and sexual orientation and a letter from the XXXX indicating that you have been a member of that community since XXXX 2023.
[23] Your testimony regarding your imputed and actual political opinion about your sexual orientation and threatening events you’ve experienced as an anglophone woman in Cameroon which are central to your allegations has been detailed and consistent internally with your narrative and the documentary evidence provided.
[24] I find that you have therefore established your subjective fear of persecution in Cameroon for all of the above reasons on a balance of probabilities.
Objective Basis
[25] I also find that the objective evidence in the National Documentation Package, the NDP for Cameroon supports your allegations and that your claim is objectively well-founded. The US Department of State reports at item 2.1 of the NDP that consensual same sex sexual activity between adults is illegal and punishable in Cameroon with imprisonment lasting anywhere between six (6) months and five (5) years plus a fine.
[26] It further states that the LGBT can you human rights organizations such as Cameroonian Foundation For AIDS, Humanity First Cameroon, Alternatives Cameroon, the National Observatory of the Rights of LGBTQ+ Persons and Their Defenders, Calibri (ph), Working for Our Wellbeing and Others continue to report arbitrary arrests of LGBTQ+ persons. LGBTQ+ individuals continue to face significant stigma, violence and discrimination from their families, communities and the government in Cameroon.
[27] A response to an information request on the situation of SOGIESC individuals in Cameroon found at item 6.1 of the NDP states that there is pervasive homophobia in Cameroon and that mistreatment of sexual minorities is reported on a daily basis. This report includes – indicates that there has been an increase in homophobia in recent years both among law enforcement officials and within society in general and that types of violence noted range from arson of homes to burglaries to violence causing death.
[28] A source at item 6.1 further reports that Cameroon prosecutes people for consensual same sex conduct more aggressively than any other country in the world and is the highest jailer of homosexuals in Africa and that Cameroonian authorities are in the main the tormentor of sexual and gender minorities instead of performing their function of protecting populations.
[29] Human Rights Watch report from 2021 at item 6.10 of the NDP documents that Cameroonian security forces have arbitrarily arrested, beaten or threatened at least 24 people including a 17-year-old boy for allegedly consensual same sex conduct or gender nonconformity since February 2021.
[30] Furthermore according to a source from Humanity First Cameroon at item 6.1 in rural areas since there are no mechanisms for educating people the issue of homosexuality is directly associated with the occult practices. A Reuters article from 2018 at this item and also at 6. – item 6.8 of the NDP with the headline, Lesbian ‘witches’ chained and raped by families in Cameroon after their families found out about their sexuality also notes that some people in Cameroon think that homosexuality is linked to witchcraft or that it can be cured.
[31] It is reported at item 13.2 of the NDP that anglophones represent approximately 20 percent of the population of Cameroon and anglophone regions are located in the northwest and southwest regions. Anglophones are marginalized and discriminated against by the majority francophone government officials and the public service and military.
[32] Cameroonian authorities respond to protests with force leading to arrests, injuries and death. Item 2.5 of the NDP notes that armed groups, groups and government forces committed human rights abuses including mass killings across Cameroons anglophone regions. Item 5.16 reports that anglophone women in particular have navigated a harsh landscape of hostility and widespread sexual violence.
[33] As the crisis in the anglophone regions continue today over 598,000 people were internally displaced as of August 2022 and at least two (2) million people were in need of humanitarian aid in the northwest and southwest regions. Security forces responded to separatist attacks with a heavy hand often targeting civilians across anglophone regions.
[34] The objective evidence also does not suggest that Cameroon authorities have made any meaningful effort to distinguish between genuine armed separatists and those accused of having links to separatists such as in the case of your mother as you’ve testified. All of this is consistent with your stated fear of persecution if you return to Cameroon and if your sexual orientation were to be widely, more widely known there.
[35] Considering the objective evidence alongside your credible evidence as to your sexual orientation, past experiences including assaults on you and your mother I find that you have a well-founded fear of persecution in Cameroon therefore I find that you are and would be exposed to persecution were you to return to Cameroon because of these things.
[36] In short the documentary evidence corroborates your allegation. Based on the objective evidence in combination with your own testimony and evidence I find that you have established an objective basis for your subjective fear of persecution and that you do have a well-founded fear of persecution in Cameroon.
State Protection and Internal Flight Alternative
[37] There is a presumption that unless in complete breakdown states are capable of protecting their citizens however I find that presumption has been rebutted in this case as the agent of persecution is the state, it’s agents and society at large because of how you are and would be treated by them as a bisexual anglophone woman and because of your imputed and actual political opinion. Accordingly I find there is no state protection available to you.
[38] Similarly as the Cameroonian state is an agent of persecution in this case and it has control over the entire country of Cameroon and in addition Cameroonian society in general are also agents of persecution I find on a balance of probabilities that you would face a serious possibility of persecution throughout Cameroon due to your profile as a bisexual anglophone woman —
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[39] MEMBER: — for your imputed and actual political opinion and therefore a viable Internal Flight Alternative would not be available to you.
CONCLUSION
[40] I therefore find you have established a serious possibility of persecution and I conclude you are a Convention refugee. I accept your claim. And that is the end of my reasons.
——— REASONS CONCLUDED ———